Staging stories of commoners

ArtLife recently staged a play ‘3 Shades of Delhi’ at Lamakaan. The play showcased three Hindi short stories – ‘Aaina’, ‘Pehchan’ and ‘Megha Re’. ‘3 Shades of Delhi’ is directed by Delhi-based Prakhar Gautam. He started Parindey Production and staged many plays. This is the first time he staged a play in Hyderabad. Gautam has also published a book ‘Acting as a way of life’.

The play started with the short story ‘Aaina’. It was about Zorawar Singh, born in a middle-class family. He is agitated when his faith in his morals are broken. He vents out his frustrations and shows a mirror to the dual standards of society. He questions why people live with dual standards.

The play explores the tragedy of a common man. Prakhar Gautam acted in the play as Zorawar Singh and gave a good performance. The second short story ‘Pehchan’ is about a scientist Shekhar Roy, who won recently an award for his work. When he comes to home, a shadow of him comes from the mirror and talks with him about his life.

It was followed by ‘Megha Re’, it is a story of a woman, Megha who has an eventful life and goes through every emotion a woman goes through. The play explores the key incidents of a woman living as a daughter, wife, mother and finally as a woman.